It’s been a minute since DaveCromwellWrites covered a live show (well, last November to be precise). While all too true that the recent focus has been predominantly on recorded works (not always the case as densely covered live event were a common occurrence on this site, not that long ago), this current feature celebrates a dazzling, multi-performance show. Also included are two distinct interviews (something else that was once as staple here) along with some studio recording reviews as well. It all adds up to yet-another thoughtful and detailed probe into this thing we call “rock music.”
When it was announced that Live Nation was putting on an “Eighties Goth Prom” at House Of Blues in Orlando Florida earlier this month on May 3, the opportunity to catch this event was there for the taking. Headlined by world renowned Depeche Mode tribute band Strangelove, the lineup also included The Cure tribute Lovesong, Not Nine Inch Nails tribute to NIN and The Electric Duke tribute to David Bowie. Having established a prior working relationship with the multi-skilled Julian Shah-Tayler via his solo work, the occasion to see him do his Bowie show and as an essential member of Stranglove was too good to miss. In addition to the performance, an interview was arranged with Julian and all the members of Strangelove. That full discussion follows below, along with a review of their recently released album “Rendition.”
Based out of Los Angeles, STRANGELOVE-The Depeche Mode Experience is a dazzling concert event. Bringing to life the very best DM songs, they draw from the artists 40 plus year career with accuracy and authenticity. Under the guidance of Brent Meyer (a/k/a “Counterfeit Martin”) his portrayal of DM mastermind Martin L. Gore on stage is a joy to behold. Frontman and vocalist Leo Luganskiy (a/k/a “Ultra-Dave”) is both a visual and vocal dead ringer for the charismatic Dave Gahan. Julian Shah-Tayler (a/k/a “Oscar Wilder”) is no stranger to this site, having reviewed a number of his albums here previously. James Evans (a/k/a "In The Fletch") is the bands Andy Fletcher in every similar way possible. Chris Olivas (a/k/a "Chris-tian O-gner") is the quintessential drummer every band would love to have.
The Golden Ticket
Necessary item for a smooth experience
Sitting down with the band an hour or so before they were to perform on this Saturday evening, the Q + A flowed in a professional yet-casual fun filled exchange.
DCW: Getting right to the heart of the matter, where do you see your place in this huge rock and roll music landscape?
Brent Meyer: The Question is do we have any back story beyond being a tribute band entity, because everyone views us in that light – in the context of coming to these shows. I started this project 18 years ago, and some people who’ve followed me from those early days only see me in this context are surprised to discover I do other things.
DCW: It’s the “onion” concept where there is more to an individual than just what you see on the surface.
Julian: And much more to make you cry (laughter all around).
DCW: Leo, what else do you do when not at this? Do you have a solo project?
Leo: Yes, I do my solo work and also a couple of side projects. Something I’ve been pursuing over a decade. Coming from a teenage dream to be the next alternative metal artist. Combining the elements of songwriting and being inspired by bands like Deftones, Korn and an archetypal teenage angst. Other influences are more sophisticated such as the Swedish progressive metal band Katatonia. Focusing on a heavier writing style with the music, but the vocals are very song oriented. As an artist you kind of want it all. To be equally appealing to the common show business factors, but you want it to be beautiful to anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s techno, synthpop, rock or metal, sometimes you get lucky and discover a band that makes you overlook anything you ever thought you might like. When I was growing up I was in to more electronic music, which is completely opposite to something that is post-punk or heavy music. Then I discovered the band Placebo and it changed how I think of any of that. It was so completely out-of-the-box and it was the right time to discover it. They’re all stylistically different but there is a mood that you feel. For me, it’s the mood and the atmosphere that the band is bringing that matters more than what style it is. So when you are creating something of your own, you end up taking bits and pieces from all of that, while still trying to be tasteful if you can.
DCW: It’s been well-documented that keyboardist Alan Wilder left Depeche Mode due to the lack of credit he was given for all the work he did in the band. Would you agree with that assessment?
Brent: Absolutely. He was basically uncredited at least as co-producer on every album he was involved in. The quintessential Mode albums that defined their sound for most fans.
DCW: When I listen to his solo project Recoil, I hear so many of those distinct audio qualities.
Brent: The sound had all the Depeche Mode signatures, but it moved away from a pop sensibility, that melodic songwriting core, it was more about the atmospherics and sonic landscape. He chose to explore that, and who knows what Alan’s songwriting capabilities might have been in the band, given the chance.
DCW: James, your role as “Fletcher” in the band has playing keyboards and singing back-up vocals. Which do you feel more accomplished at.
James: I think I sing better than play keys. My vocals keep me going while I’m playing one handed Fletch lines. The ironic part was that he had more keyboards set up than any of the other guys, while playing fewer lines.
DCW: I saw Depeche Mode play Giants Stadium in New Jersey back in 1990 with the Jesus and March Chain as support. That was an incredible show, and I believe it was right when Martin started playing guitar with the band.
Brent: It was pretty much right then, that tour and the one before, the “Music For The Masses” one.
Leo: Arguably that might never have happened if “Black Celebration” and “Music For The Masses” didn’t lead up to what they did there. You can hear that stuff in songs like “Behind The Wheel.” If you reverse engineer some of their songs – their callbacks – and what they ended up doing in the future – the melody of “Pleasure Little Treasure” is basically “Personal Jesus” in a way. It’s re-conceptualized with an entirely different impact.
DCW: Do you think that’s intentional, or just a natural occurrence?
Leo: It’s both. Coming from their integrity and style and some of humor about it. Sometimes they’re really mopey and dark, and sometimes they’re really ironic. There’s beauty in that, and keeps you kind of wondering.
DCW: Have you ever met any of the DM band members?
Brent: Yes, absolutely. Martin is a big supporter.
DCW: He likes you?
Brent: He’s spoken very favorably about us in press and print. In a fairly recent press junket in New York Dave was kind of ‘taking the piss’ about how much time he spent watching our videos online.
Julian: Leo and I both worked indirectly with Ava, who is Martin’s daughter.
Brent: I have as well.
DCW: That’s cool. I caught a show by Dave Gahan’s daughter Stella Rose way downtown in NYC a year or so back.
Leo: I’ve seen some of her shows and met her briefly.
Brent: We’ve seen her in tiny clubs.
DCW: And she knows what you do?
Leo: She doesn’t exactly what I do, because it was more of an accidental meeting after one of her shows at Pianos. She’s more involved with her peers and the new generation of younger musicians that might not know about all the older stuff.
DCW: Some do, some don’t. I was always curious about what came before I was alive. There was a period of immersion into 1940’s and 50’s jazz, inspired by Kerouac’s “On The Road.”
Julian: Brent’s degree is Ethnomusicology. He’s the nerdy center of all this.
Brent: We’re both kind of the conservatory of things, with Julian and his Classical Music background.
Julian: We’ve occasionally done shows with a U2 band and they’ll bust out the Passengers song “Miss Sarajevo” and when Brent does the Pavarotti opera solo there is not a dry pair of knickers in the house! (Much laughter all around).
DCW: At one time you were training to be an opera singer?
Brent: I never had any illusion that would be something I could make a living at, but I did want to pursue the training that afforded and follow the through line in terms of symphonic composition. It benefits in terms of arrangement, even though it’s all midi and electronics, it still all directly affects this. Alan Wilder, very much a classically trained musician himself, even stuck little sampled bits into the recordings. The chords that start “Never Let Me Down Again” references Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” There’s also Wagner samples, there’s Mozart Requiem, there’s all kinds of little easter eggs that he’s placed there in Depeche’s music. In fact they had a b-side of him playing Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” straight up on piano, and I think that’s pretty cool.
Julian speaks to the audience
DCW: Let’s talk about your Strangelove recordings, specifically the “Rendition” album. Were you all in the same room when you recorded this?
Brent: Never! (laughter) Our original track and the Depeche songs were all done separately. The only one’s that had any of us physically together were when Julian and I did a live stream of all Martin songs and a couple of those are on the album.
Julian: “Sublime” is the song that Leo and I wrote. I had sent him a couple of tracks and he came up with something fabulous, vocally. We then threw it back and forth continuing to develop it, and then everyone put their parts on.
Chris: That track wouldn’t have sounded as good if I hadn’t gotten my drums on it the way I wanted.
Leo: That’s true. The ideas and construction were because of the combination between a very modern drum sound and a very live one. That’s why in certain moments you notice we kept the drums “naked” – a dry and clean sound.
Chris: When I got the general track, there was no vocals on it. There was maybe only the verse part, and a few other tiny parts to it. I got the vibe though, and put down a John Bohnam-esque beat. A similar feel to what I play on DM’s “Useless” and “Never Let Me Down.” There was a point where I wish I would have added a little bit more later on and do things a little bit different, but overall it worked out well. Eventually they started to cut things up and Leo added his elements of new electronics stacked on top.
Leo: Right. For instance some of Chris’ drum samples are more like a room sound, while others are from places that were bigger. You always want to go back and forth with the blending. Even back to the demos, where you like the original consistency, and combine that other sounds to make something truly unique. You don’t want it to sound like anybody else, and that’s what takes more time. When it clicks with everyone, is no longer distracting and it’s working, that’s when we say “yeah, this is us.”
Julian: I have to give a lot of credit to Darwin Meiners who mixed what we sent him, which was a lot of stuff.
Brent: A herculean task.
Julian: He did such a good job with it and made it sound like we might even be in the same room together to record it.
Brent: Which was definitely not the case. He had to craft all that together.
DCW: “Sublime” is positioned as the album’s tenth entry (with two remixes of it after that). The primary version is a guitar-centric, buzzy ambiance affair with forward drive drumming in support of Leo’s heightened vocals. The “thoughts of loving you/hating you” express universal relationship turmoil. “Let me in - I will disappear with out a trace - when i get what i want” becomes the emotional center. While “The pleasure and the pain - cuts me right out” suggests a release of personal ego, when experiencing the “sublime” of immersing yourself in the one you love. Heavy, chugging guitar leads a bold sonic conclusion that includes soaring vocals and elevated percussive elements.
DCW: Leo, do you write a lot of songs?
Leo: I think it’s safe to say “yes.” It’s an ongoing process for all of us. I can’t really call myself a “musician” (at this point) because you kind of have to be more well-known, but definitely ideas are happening all the time. Ideas, concepts, side projects – until something really clicks with a lot of people – this is when you become an artist. This is where people start putting you in a category “oh he’s a rock artist or a goth artist.” I think of those labels as something like winning an award. You can’t really give it to yourself, it has to be assigned by other people.
Digging deeper into the bands "Rendition" album reveals a treasure trove of audio delights. It opens with a wonderful re-interpretation of “Useless,” this time with emphasis on Brent’s sharp guitar figures coupled with Leo’s surprisingly fluid bass playing. The expressive lead vocals and precise harmonies from Brent and James are of course there. Julian’s keys and Chris’ drums also deliver at the exact levels the song calls for.
Ultra’s “Sister Of Night” leans on keyboards and electronic percussion to support Leo’s passionate vocals (with Brent and Julian background vox). “In Your Room” is essentially a solo track from Julian Shah-Tayler. He plays everything on it and does all the vocals. Having reviewed a number of his albums outside of this band already, the familiarity is not only in the song, but it’s overall production.
“Insight” comes from those “live lounge session” Brent referred to, and features his expressive vocals and Julian’s piano and backing vocals. The ability to bring this song to life in an intimate live setting is most impressive. Fifth entry “Mercy In You” flips the script with a solo piano and vocal performance from Leo. The “Songs of Faith and Devotion” entry becomes even more poignant in this stripped down form. “A Question Of Lust” comes by way of Julian back in his studio, building a solo version of this classic with all the tools and talents at his disposal.
Dipping back into their “live lounge sessions” Brent and Julian serve up an electric piano and synth extravaganza with the recent (2023) DM song “Soul With Me.” Brent’s powerful and expressive voice reflects the original’s beauty with resonance and reverence. Moving over to earlier era DM, 1985’s “Shake the Disease” features all the bandmembers (minus drums) with a stripped down entry. A near acapella version from all four vocalists, the minimal instrumental backing is all that seems necessary.
Final “rendition” is a solo vocal and piano entry of “I Am You” from Leo. Subtitled “Audition Version,” and given the short 1 minute in overall length, one wonders if this was an actual submission to gain entry into the band. Regardless, it’s beautifully done. The first “Sublime” remix comes by way of Julian Shah-Tayler’s recording studio laboratory. Extended in length, all the instruments from the original are stripped away and replaced by an array of synths and electronic percussion. Ambiance abounds with plenty of open spaces, allowing for Leo’s vocal track to stand out a bit more. Final entry is the second “Sublime” remix – dubbed the “Entre Nous Remix.” Stripped once again of all previous instrument, new keyboards and percussion tracks provide a bed for Leo’s lead vocals and the remainder of the bands backing voices. Both remixes are decidedly dance-floor ready.
Strangelove continues to tour throughout the summer and beyond. Check their Official Site for all the dates.
In addition to the Strangelove interview, a second one was conducted on this night with no-stranger-to-this-site solo artist Julian Shah-Tayler, shortly after his opening performance as The Electric Duke Bowie Tribute show. Numerous recorded works of his have already been reviewed here previously, and now the opportunity presented itself to interview the multi-faceted man in person.
DCW: Watching you play piano in your videos (outside of this band) you are very accomplished. Did you have classical piano training?
Julian: Yes, I was classically trained.
DCW: Yes, you also mentioned in a recent video interview that you were also on a path to be a doctor. At the same time as this, were you also getting piano lessons?
Julian: Strangely, my Grandmother was a music teacher, and she was very proud of my uncle who was a doctor. My mother is a lawyer, but she is also very musical. One year she won a Welsh music competition, and was very proud of that. So she would encourage me with music all the time. However, my family would have all liked me to be a doctor, but it just wasn’t my path.
DCW: When did you first start playing piano?
Julian: I was 5 years old. I loved playing instruments and doing musical things, but I didn’t particularly enjoy practicing.
DCW: Could you read the musical notation charts?
Julian: Yes, of course I read music.
DCW: At some point with the emergence with the 80’s synth sound and morphed over to playing these electronic keyboards?
Julian: I’m a little younger than that, so I didn’t really get into synthesizers until I joined this band here, Strangelove. Everything I did up till then was about recording studio work. Brent was previously describing how Alan Wilder would take pieces of orchestral works and include them. I did that as well, without any prior knowledge of what he was doing. I would take Beethoven or Stravinsky or Benjamin Britten and I would stretch my selections to make an orchestral sound for the stuff I did. I didn’t have any synths, only pianos so I would improvise in other ways. Like I would take the sound of a squeaking door, sample it and use that as a sort of keyboard sound.
DCW: At one time were you on a path to be a classical piano player?
Julian: I would have never been a classical concert pianist. I was, I wouldn’t say mediocre – I was good but not great. When you listen to Lang Lang you hear how spectacular and brilliant they are. I was always interested more in composing, and if you want to do that, you don’t become a classical pianist.
DCW: Early on you had the songwriter bug?
Julian: Yes. I wrote my first piano piece when I was nine years old, and my first song when I was 14. I needed to be self-expressive, that was very important to me.
DCW: When did you first make the move to the United States?
Julian: I came over with a band named Whitey, who I co-wrote a lot of stuff with. We had songs in “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad” and we did very well. We went on a tour with Peaches that was really good. So, that’s how I ended up in the USA.
DCW: You originally grew up in Leeds, UK?
Julian: I was born in Leeds, but didn’t grow up there. I went to boarding school in Durham, which was the basis for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter world. I then went to University in York and later moved to London when I was old enough to do the whole thing with music.
DCW: You’ve been a solo artist from your earliest days, but you also do these other projects.
Julian: I like collaborating with people, and especially with very talented writers. If something like Whitey comes along, it helps me learn. The same thing with Leo here in this band. Another I’ve worked with is Tiki Lewis who has really spectacular stuff. If I find people I like working with, that is a welcome diversion. However, it will never be my focus beyond what I do – it will be just another thing.
DCW: It sounds to me like you’ve gotten a number of songs in films, television shows and/or video games. Is that something you put out there to be found, or do you have people contacting you for specific projects?
Julian: Both – all of those things. Currently I’m working on a tv script based around my music. It’s my story, and is a written 13 episode arc. The pilot is fully written, and the next 12 episodes have synopses.
DCW: Do you have the people in place – the contacts, to bring this to life?
Julian: I had all that before the global shutdown of 2020. A couple of production companies were interested in making it. I currently have one production company who is now interested and I’m collaborating with over the next couple of months to bring it to fruition. We will make it happen because I’m fairly confident the person I’m working with has the means to do it.
It was truly a pleasure to finally meet Julian in person, as well as all the other wonderful musicians working on this night.
Also performing on this night was an amazingly accurate The Cure Tribute show by the mesmerizing band Lovesong.
This show was the closest thing to attending a Cure live show, without it being the actual band! Frontman Rusty has got his Robert Smith down in not only sound, but all the physical movements diehard Cure fans have come to know over decades. In fact, the whole band is a precise, well-honed machine that reproduced every song brilliantly.
Even before details were hashed out with contacts in Depeche Mode Tribute Strangelove, a spot at this event was secured via Lovesong’s “win a ticket to the show” contest running on social media leading up to the event.
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Even though ultimately not needed, the gesture was most certainly appreciated (and told them so in a brief chat after the show).
The unanimous consent among anyone who has experienced their show is they are the premier Cure live show out there (other than the actual Robert Smith and company).
Listen to this clip of "Just Like Heaven"
Who doesn't love the achingly beautiful "Pictures Of You"
Or the sheer uplifting joy of "Inbetween Days"
Perhaps it's time to go for "The Walk"
Or get lost in "A Forest"
Nothing captures the balance of doomy wonder than the instrumental passages of "Fascination Street"
I'm glad I got to see "The Cure" this year!
Lovesong continues their tour throughout the upcoming days as well.
Dave Cromwell has been writing about music since the dawn of the internet age. In addition to the steady flow of features here on this site, he has been a regular contributor to The Deli Magazine (both Print and Web) since 2010. With numerous Print Issue cover features and weekly contributions on the Deli website, scores of artists have received the Cromwell point of view. Along with ongoing contributions to this site and The Deli Magazine, Dave has written for Dingus, My Social List, The Waster, Spin and Rolling Stone magazines.
